(ARCHIVED) Paradise Panic! (a BFB/TPOT au)

3) Assistance

Lollipop's POV

Once Flower had been taken to our temporary shelter to rest, I have been simply gazing out into the sea to look for any of our other friends that have survived this long. It felt strange, sitting on moist sand, with a beautiful night sky around me. The sea sparkled with shades of blue and...

     Red?

     "Ruby?" I jumped to my feet to get a better view, and sure enough, it was Ruby, floating on the water with her arms flailing tiredly. I jumped in the freezing water and swam to help her.

     "Ruby! How are you alive?!" I held Ruby, who was shaking from the cold and weakness by now. I carried her back to the shore and set her down on the sand. She flopped down onto her back, mumbling incomprehensibly.

     I leaned against a tree and watched Ruby to make sure she didn't slip into the water. I noticed the new dents on her body after a while and grew worried. Did something like this happen to any of the others?

      When Ruby finally gained enough energy to speak, she immediately asked, "Where's Flower..?" I sighed, helping her to her feet. "Follow me, I know where she is."

      As I walked Ruby towards the shelter, I couldn't help but notice the bushes near us shaking every once in a while, as if someone was following us. I mumbled to myself, "Hm... that's odd. Leafy must be still at the shelter with Flower."

      Sure enough, the two plant women were at the shelter. "Huh, odd." "What?" Leafy tilted her head at me. "Oh, did I think out loud? Sorry.."

I looked down at Flower, who was asleep and hugging herself, still wearing the bandana. Ruby limped over to Flower and lied down next to her, and soon enough the two were hugging each other, asleep peacefully.

     I smiled, then frowned in thought. Bubble was probably popped by now...

     Leafy saw my face, but she looked a bit more concerned. "Lollipop? What's wrong?" I tilted my head slightly, then rubbed my face to feel wetness.

     Me, crying? Yes, I've felt plenty of negative emotions before, but I don't remember crying. No one has ever directly seen me cry before. I sighed, wiping off the tears.

     "Nothing important, just nostalgia..." I hugged my knees to my chest, hoping that lie was believable enough.

     Honestly? I really missed Bubble, and if she was popped... Four wasn't here to revive anyone, and recovery centers naturally spawning on a stranded island aren't possible.

Besides the flirt I made in BFB 20, she doesn't know my actual feelings for her. I've been doing my best to hide them, and to top it off, I was going to surprise confess to her on the last day of the cruise. But now there's no more cruise.

     And no more bubble. No, don't think that. She's probably just floating in the sky, calm as can be. She'll find a safe place to land and she'll be okay.

     The sound in the bush continued to echo, filling my mind. I gave up on resisting and walked over to the plant, parting it.

Coconut's POV

I looked up at the strange candy that revealed my hiding space as she spoke. "Hello?" She waved her hand in front if my face as I simply stared. It was fun, making people think I was an emotionless husk for a second, when I in fact had just as much emotion as them, maybe more.

"Greetings!" I shouted long enough for the candy to jump and topple onto her back. "My name is not important right now!" I managed the most sane smile I could possibly gain at this point. "Oh, uhm... My name is Lollipop." The candy sat up and pointed toward two pretty plants and a precious red gemstone. "Those are Leafy, Flower, and Ruby."

I slowly sat up, relaxing as I thought. These people seemed gullible enough.

I held out a hand for a regular handshake; it was too late in the day to cause havoc. "It was nice meeting someone new! It's getting dark, you should rest!" Lollipop returned the handshake politely and went into the little hut they created.

I started off towards the deeper end of the forest, grinning. They were just as polite as the donut I found earlier today...